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Diary - February 2006 |
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Saturday 18th February |
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I travelled up to Al's after work
last night so we could set off in the early hours for Oban. It was bitterly
cold last night and this morning - no, bitterly cold would have been an
improvement come to think of it!
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Anyhow,
we dropped down into Oban at around 0630 and Lord of the Isles was still
down at the linkspan. Instead of going over to the pier we went out onto
the esplanade to get a few early dawn photos. Al spotted lights out in the
Firth of Lorn and we spent the next ten minutes speculating on what the
hell the ship was. I was convinced it was Clansman, having come down from
Stornoway where she had been on relief. In hindsight the clues were all
there as to what ship it was - neither of us were awake enough to spot
them though. |
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Lord
of the Isles turned away from the pier and glided out of the bay, heading
out past the lights in the Firth. We drove around the bay to the terminal
where we joined the rather minimal queue for the 0800 to Mull. I went off
to get the ferry tickets while Al hung around the car to get his camera
ready. My eyes were fixed on the northern channel into the bay where it
appeared that the mystery ship (Clansman???) was circling. It was only
when I emerged £50 or so poorer having bought the tickets that I was able
to make a positive ID on the ship in the Firth.
As
it got lighter I made out twin funnels and the black hull. The position of
her red and green navigation lights gave it away - it was the Isle of
Lewis. Just 16 hours ago she was still on the Mersey, but now (0715) she
was sitting patiently outside Oban Bay. I think Al spotted her at exactly
the same time as me - it was going to be a great day.
There
was some concern that Isle of Lewis might disappear before we could get
close enough with the cameras - every so often she would disappear behind
Kerrera! The Isle of Mull appeared at 0735 and we got ready with the
cameras. I remained by the linkspan as the pier crew were coming round
doing check-in, while Al wandered off down to the fisheries berth on the
far side of Bruernish. The sky was clear and crisp as the Mull ferry swung
round onto the linkspan. I was by now back in the car trying to thaw out
(honestly, you have NO idea how cold it was out there this morning!) |
Lord of the Isles in the early morning
Isle of Mull crossing Oban Bay
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The
ferry unloaded and we were called forward for boarding. As usual I was
instructed to go down the starboard side car deck and I parked up just
back from the bow ramp. Now
then - there were about 150 passengers on board, OK? What do you think
most of these sensible souls did after boarding...? Bear in mind that it
was now 0755 - yes, most people either went to sleep in the observation
lounge or the reclining lounge, or went to the cafeteria for breakfast.
What did we do? Did we do the sensible thing and go for food?! You must be
joking...
We
witnessed departure from the open deck, out in the biting breeze behind
the funnel. Al was busy messing around changing lenses on his
all-singing-all-dancing camera (time consuming and unnecessary in my
opinion) while I kept an eye out for the Isle of Lewis as we moved away
from the pier. There was only one other person out on deck and even he had
a rather big camera out, although he was only interested in the scenery. |
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Isle of Lewis in the Firth of Lorn
Isle of Lewis going approaching Oban
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To
my huge relief the Isle of Lewis was still sat there a mile or so out in
the Firth of Lorn as we came out through the northern channel - the cold
was going to be worth it after all. (It was so cold my lower jaw was seizing
up and I was unable to speak coherently - Steve, make no comment about me
talking rubbish)
We
powered out of the bay and the engine tone rose. Isle of Lewis was by this
time motoring inwards and we passed at a fairly close range. I had the
advantage at this point as my camera does not require changing lenses (hehehe)
and I was able to keep snapping away as the Isle of Lewis headed past us
to the starboard on her first entrance into Oban Bay. You could tell it
was her first visit as her master took her in VERY slowly.
With
the largest member of the fleet safely out of the way I was not hanging
around outside in the sub-zero wind. I wanted feeding so made my way down
to the cafeteria. It came as no surprise to find Al not far behind me,
also in search of food. We were buzzing by this point - the cold seemed
irrelevant. What further surprises would there be in store for us through
the remainder of the day? |
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We
were alongside at Craignure by 0840 and we were fourth off. Al was playing
with the videocamera as we disembarked - I was concentrating on getting past
that idiot in front who was dawdling along at about 40mph. Typically, each
time we got to a good overtaking straight there was something big coming the
other way. Fortunately this muppet turned off and went off down to Fishnish
and we could carry on to Tobermory and our next target locations.
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Isle of Arran at Tobermory Pier
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Isle of Cumbrae in Tobermory Bay
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Due
to a shuffle round of vessels earlier this week (thanks to Lochnevis being
in need of repairs on the Mersey and Eigg being off for overhaul etc) the
Isle of Cumbrae was to be found at Tobermory and operating the Kilchoan
crossing. Isle of Arran was also tied up at Tobermory pier in a spare
capacity. The idea this morning was to split up and get rare pictures of the
Isle of Cumbrae from two separate places simultaneously. I made off along
the path round to Rubh na Gall lighthouse for shots of the ferry passing the
mouth of Loch Sunart while Al stayed in the terminal and caught her coming
round to the slipway.
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Wellies
would have been advisable for my bit. I left them in the car for some
reason and as a result my legs were plastered in mud and my shoes ruined.
Still I was kept up to date with what was where by Al and the mobile phone
networks. The Isle of Cumbrae crawled past and continued on out to
Ardnamurchan. I started my wander back to Tobermory and passed Al on the
way - the next part of the plan being for him to go to the lighthouse and
for me to get round to a new viewpoint at Aros Park. As usual things
weren't that simple. As I made my way back I spotted the Isle of Lewis
storming up the Sound of Mull towards us. There wasn't time to get to the
viewpoint above the Sound of Mull to the south of Tobermory - so I had to
make do with a small clearing in the trees near the pier. |
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Isle of Cumbrae at Tobermory slipway...
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...and crossing to Kilchoan
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Isle of Lewis off Tobermory
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As
the mighty Isle of Lewis came past it seemed like she was the centre of
attention - even the crew of Isle of Arran were standing out on the lowered
bow ramp and craning their necks to see over Calve Island as she approached.
I got a few pictures and couldn't help but notice the awful state of the
paintwork on her hull - it was really patchy and wasn't a good advert for
the Mersey shipyard that overhauled her. |
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Isle of Lewis passing Loch Sunart...
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...and passing the Isle of Cumbrae
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I
got round to Aros Park and went down to the old stone pier from where I
could see straight over to the slipway. Isle of Arran was still sat there,
side-on to me and the Isle of Cumbrae reappeared, unloaded and then returned
to the buoy in the bay. From my viewpoint I got the unique shot of Isle of
Cumbrae passing in front of the larger ship, whilst perched precariously on
a rather slippery rock near the old pier (how I managed not to fall and
break a limb I'll never know). |
Isles of Arran and Cumbrae at Tobermory
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Al
phoned to say he was back in the town and we agreed to rendezvous in the
main car park (which basically means he wanted to walk around the bay to get
some more pictures of the ships from different angles!) So I headed back
down the steep hill into the town and pulled into the car park.
Time
was now going against us. The afternoon was to be spent in separate places
once more and this involved me getting Al back to Craignure in time to get
the next ferry back to Oban. As it was we somehow made Craignure in 25
minutes - just enough time to download the contents of his camera onto the
laptop before the Isle of Mull came into the bay. |
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Isle of Mull arriving from Oban
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With
the two of us now separated, I went off round to the Mull Railway car park
for pictures of the ship leaving, while Al decided it would be a good idea
to photograph me doing so... A quick wave as the ship disappeared out of
sight behind the headland and I left Craignure for the next part of the
afternoon - Fishnish. The point of splitting up was to make sure we didn't
miss anything unusual which might have (and already had) happened today.
Al's first port of call after getting into Oban was a camera shop to try and
get his battery charged while he had some lunch. I on the other hand ignored
the increasingly loud rumblings of my stomach and stayed out in the cold,
waiting for the Lord of the Isles to reach Fishnish. |
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Al on the Isle of Mull heading to Oban
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Bruernish seen from Isle of Mull
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At
times I wished I'd gone across to Oban (well at least it would have warm) as
there was quite a bit of action to be seen. While he was over there, Al
captured some great pictures of Bruernish and Lord of the Isles together
just outside the bay as well as the Isle of Mull coming in during a
spectacular Hebridean sunset. When Lord of the Isles eventually made it down
to Fishnish I caught her on camera along with the Loch Fyne which had, very
handily, come over from Lochaline. I also managed to get a couple of
pictures for Graham as well, thinking back to what he was saying about
missing a golden opportunity to photograph the Twin Otter aircraft doing a
spot of low flying up the Sound of Mull... |
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Lord of the Isles and Loch Fyne at Fishnish...
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...and with Bruernish off Oban
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I
got back into Craignure at around 1500 in time to see the Lord if the Isles
coming back from Oban. She wasn't needed after her arrival in Oban this
afternoon so came across to Mull instead, although she had to sit out in the
bay for nearly an hour until the Isle of Mull had been in. Still, it
provided some nice pictures of the two of them side by side... |
Ferguson-built sisters at Craignure
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I
returned to Oban on the 1700 from Craignure and picked my partner in crime
up from the esplanade. Our return journey this evening took us back to the
Clyde via Inverary and Dunoon. We got into the Cowal town just after the
Saturn had sailed for Gourock at 1950, so we parked up and wandered off
looking for somewhere (anywhere!!) to buy some sort of food. But alas it was
not to be, for it seemed that Dunoon, famed for its Highland Games, is
devoid of anything as simple as a chippy - even a shop selling manky two day
old sandwiches would have done! Instead we found gangs of teenagers
loitering around getting steadily more drunk. All in all it wasn't a good
impression of the town and I for one was glad when we got back to the car
and went down to the terminal. |
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We
left Dunoon aboard Saturn at 2045 (altogether there were 6 passengers and 2
cars this evening) bound for Gourock on the last sailing of the day. Coming
round into Gourock there was nothing else lying around and we just
disembarked and made for Al's place once more. Looking back right now, today
was certainly full of surprises; Isle of Lewis in Oban and then the Sound of
Mull, Isle of Cumbrae on the Tobermory - Kilchoan route, both Isle of Mull
and Lord of the Isles together at Craignure... |
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Isle of Mull in a true Hebridean sunset |
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